


Angels Among Us

by dayishujia



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Mentions of Death, alternate universe: angels and demons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-08
Updated: 2014-01-08
Packaged: 2018-01-07 23:55:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1125894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dayishujia/pseuds/dayishujia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Tim is and angel and Jason is a human.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Angels Among Us

**Author's Note:**

> rated slightly higher than I usually do due to mentions of death and some violence. 
> 
> inspired by something I saw on tumblr, with the quote "(on a post by saintcrossknife) Foolishness... An angel never stands a chance against demons! That has held true since Creation" plus my own: "Angels are inherently good, demons are inherently bad. It is humans who have the option to choose."

"Foolishness..." the demon cackled as Tim furiously fought it. Despite giving it everything he could, the angel was definitely no match for his opponant. "An angel never stands a chance against a demon! That has been true since the Creation!"

"That may be true," Tim bit back. The demon got a good shot in, knocking Tim back a couple steps. He wiped his mouth, more out of habit than anything; the struggle had been going on for a while now, since the demon snuck in the apartment with evil intentions to play out on it's human owner. It wasn't expecting an angel. "But it is with the greatest honor that I should die protecting this human from the likes of you."

The demon's face contorted with a freakishly wide, toothy grin. "Is that right?" it bellowed, cracking the joints in it's oddly long neck; it had long since rid itself of its human-shaped disguise. "Then allow me to grant you your honor." 

The demon charged forward, surprising the already severely wounded angel. Tim saw it coming but couldn't scramble out of the way in time. The demon's claw broke through the angel's rib cage, twisting. Tim gasped, eyes flying open with the force of the attack. When the demon retracted, Tim could only stay on his feet for a few seconds before toppling to his knees, spilling blood over his human host's pale carpet. 

The demon opened its jaws to crack a humorless joke at the angel's expense when a noise, the sound of a door slamming shut, caught both of their attentions. "Yo, Timmy," a voice called, deep and masculine and echoing through the apartment. "I'm back; I got that fruit you like." 

The human kept talking, going on about how the fruit Tim asked for was difficult to find and a little pricey, and Tim closed his eyes tight. He had hoped this would be over long before his host returned from running errends. The demon's feral grin drew wider. "Sounds like your human is back. Why don't we go say 'hello'?"

Hearing the demon's cruel suggestion, Tim threw himself forward with whatever energy he could muster, groaning in pain as he grabbed for any part of the demon he could reach. The demon cackled and kicked the angel, knocking his grip loose. "Don't... don't go near him!" the angel groaned, curling his fists in to the carpet, "Don't touch him!"

The sounds from the front of the apartment went silent and the angel's body went cold with fear. Did he hear them? "Tim?" 

Tim could hear the human moving around in the front half of the apartment; throwing off his combat boots, dumping the brown paper bag of groceries on the counter, throwing his worn out leather jacket over the couch. The demon moved closer to the door, if only to further upset the angel, as the human's footsteps neared the door.

"Jason," Tim groaned. His voice was getting smaller, weaker, and Tim knew he wouldn't be able to protect Jason should the demon decide to attack again. "Don't come back here..." he pleaded, "Jason, don't." 

"...Tim?" Jason's footsteps stilled. His voice was soft and quiet, filled with worry. "Are you alright?"

Tim coughed, choking on spit and blood. "Don't... just don't come in, Jason," he told him, hoping his voice sounded brave, "Stay there, don't come in."

"It's sweet," the demon mocked, cocking his head to the side. It grinned at the door, as if able to see the person on the other side, then grinned at the bleeding angel on the floor. "The human is worried about you. Why don't we let him in?"

"Human -- Tim? Who is there? Tim??" Jason waited a couple moments for a responce. When all he heard was a harsh cackle and a couple shaky, weak breaths, Jason surged for the door knob. "Tim, I'm coming in!"

"Jason, no!" Tim fought to crawl his way towards the door, as if he could make it in time to stop Jason from coming in, for if the demon sees him, the chances it will kill him increase ten fold. However, despite how Tim struggled, he would never be able to reach the door before Jason opened it. "...Jay..."

The first thing Jason saw was Tim, sprawled along the floor and bleeding, "...Tim...". The next, was the grinning demon, clothed in black. Jason's eyes widened.

The demon only grinned at him, demonic and threatening, all sharp lines and angles. "You should see to the angel, human," the demon said, cocking his head to one side, "he doesn't have much longer."

"Jason, run," Tim groaned, clawing at the carpet, fighting to get between the human and the demon. Jason, as Tim's feared, stood paralyzed at the door. No matter what, Tim was going to do whatever he could to protect Jason from harm. "Get away from here!"

Jason, however, didn't manage to budge an inch and, albeit a little anticlimatically, the demon decided on mercy and left, leaping through the open window which it had crawled in from and disappearing into the world outside. 

"What is..." Jason murmured, before his attention returned to Tim who sputtered, spitting out the blood that pooled in his mouth. "Tim!"

Jason rushed to Tim's side and rolled him over so he could pick him up. "Oh..." He couldn't tear his eyes away from the gaping hole in Tim's chest. "...Oh... Timmy, hold on. Ok? I'll..." Jason fought for something to say; between the weak gaze with which Tim looked at him and the remarkable injury he sustained, it was hard to find anything coherent and hopeful to say. "I'll go call for help."

The human moved to get up, scrambling, but Tim stopped him with a hand on his arm. "It won't..." Tim took a faltering breath, "It won't help," he told him, gripping on to Jason's tank top harder. Jason looked at him helplessly. "I don't... don't have the same make up you do. Just... stay, will you?"

"Where else would I go?" Jason asked. His sight blurred but he could still see Tim's blinding smile. He blinked back the tears and took the smaller, injured boy by the shoulders, tugging him close. "What... what did he mean when he said "angel"?"

Tim only smiled at first, his otherwise white teeth stained with blood, and cuddled close, burying his nose in Jason's shirt. "It meant... it... I'm not human, Jason... I'm an angel... and what you just saw leave here, what attacked me, was a demon."

Jason didn't say anything. There had been rumors, stories, about angels and demons walking among humans, but Jason never thought twice about it; because that's all they were: stories. He thought back on them but when Tim coughed up blood, he held him tighter and lifted him just enough so that he wouldn't suffocate on his own blood and shoved any other thoughts aside. 

Tim screwed his eyes shut with the pain of being moved. "Not everyone you see on the street is a human," he said when he settled against Jason. "Some... are like me, from the heavens to watch over humans... and some are like..." Tim waved the hand that was not tucked somewhere between him and Jason, "like it, from the underworld to cause harm and chaos." 

"It's fine, it's fine, I understand," Jason told him when Tim searched for the breath to continue his explanation. Jason pet the smaller boy's hair out of his face and reprimanded him, telling him he needs to get a haircut soon, or he'll look like a rag doll. Tim smiled up at him, and Jason couldn't help himself but to return it.

"We both... however, take a long time to... to go." 

They were silent for a little while, under the weight of Tim's words. They both knew he wasn't going to make it out of this alive, unharmed. Jason held no illusions. 

In that moment, there was so much Jason wanted to say, but there were not enough words in any language to do so properly, as Jason wanted. So they just sat there, Jason against the footboard of the bed and Tim, limp in his arms, until he spoke again. "I won't die, you know... I'll just... I'll just be stuck up in the heavens for a while."

Jason swallowed hard past the lump in his throat and asked, "For how long? I'll wait for you."

Tim chuckled lightheartedly, like the Tim Jason was used to, the Tim from just hours before. "For a couple centuries, maybe a millenia... until I'm fully healed. And the big man says it's ok."

"Then... then... I'll..." Jason fished for something, anything, to finish that sentence but nothing came to him. What could he do? A human's lifespan was no where near a millenia long; Jason would have long since submitted to age or disease before Tim would be back on Earth. There was nothing he could do. 

"But, who knows..." Tim shrugged one sholder, trying to be lighthearted, for Jason's sake. "Good humans can become angels sometimes... Do you remember what I told you?"

Jason nodded. "Yeah, I remember. Word for word." Tim looked a little impressed but mostly like he didn't believe him, so Jason, in his best Tim-voice, repeated Tim's words verbatim: Angels are inherently good, demons are inherently bad. It is humans who have the option to choose. "Although at the time, I thought you were telling me a bedtime story."

Tim let out a breath, ignoring Jason's smart-ass comment but he was impressed he could repeat it. It had been at least a month since he told him that. 

"You could do it... you'd have to really try hard, but I believe you can...." 

Tim's words were broken with light laughter and Jason's teasing 'you sayin' I'm a bad kid?'. When the laughter subsided, the smile on Tim's face remained; and Jason started petting his hair again. "Or... maybe I'll ask for a transfer... I... I could be a guide and stay with the dead humans, their spirits, for a while."

Hope rekindles in Jason's heart upon hearing those words. "So... I'll see you again?" Jason asked, "I can see you again?"

Tim smiled up at Jason as the light slowly faded from his crystal blue eyes. "Of course," he assured him, petting lightly at Jason's shirt like Jason used to do to him. "I'd never leave you alone."


End file.
